Converting Audio Cassettes To Cd

[Siamesepiggster]

Hi,

I have 55 audio cassettes that I want to convert to CD's. I would be very grateful if someone could suggest where I could get this done. Many thanks.

SP

[Rice_King]

Why not do it yourself? It isn't that difficult and you would have more control over the end result, and more importantly, your valuable original tapes.

Recommended reading: Giving your old cassette recordings a new lease of life in the digital age.

Recommended (free) software for the job: Audacity

[Crossy]

Yep, agree with Rice King, it's not difficult to do and even a cheapo sound card will have better noise figures than your original cassettes.

I use SoundLaundry (a very old version too), it works just fine for the few I have to do. Mainly do stuff for the Missus, some ancient tapes that she found somewhere, clean up well to MP3.

[Siamesepiggster]

Yep, agree with Rice King, it's not difficult to do and even a cheapo sound card will have better noise figures than your original cassettes.

I use SoundLaundry (a very old version too), it works just fine for the few I have to do. Mainly do stuff for the Missus, some ancient tapes that she found somewhere, clean up well to MP3.

Rice King and Crossy, many thanks (especially for the links). Will definately have a go at doing it myself now.

Best regards,

SP.

[Kwarium]

Can't go wrong with the free Audiograbber program. It was a pay program at one time, but now you can download it for free. Audacity is a bit more for editing the audio once you've captured it, but also a great program! I use a hand held sony cassette player and a wire with 1/8" male on both ends. (same as a headphone/earbud plug). Just next to your speaker output on your computer there is a blue 'line-in'jack. Easy!

Ps- Saving the files as .wav preserves them in full quality and bigger file size, hiss and all! MP3 of course takes up 1/10th the space and you only lose about 30% of the quality, while still maintaining the hiss!

Have fun!

[SGDude]

I use Audacity to record audio tapes into wave or mp3 files. Then I select the whole track and "Normalize" the recording to improve the sound. Not sure how to get rid of the slight buzzing sounds. You need to adjust the sound volume of your tape player and line in volume levels to get it right. Too loud and your recording will be crap.